From EP 1 312 798 A2, a starter device for starting an internal combustion engine, which starter device has a damper spring, is known. One end of the damper spring is coupled to a rope pulley, and the other end of the damper spring is connected by a coupling device to a component that rotates with the crankshaft. The spring wire of the damper spring has a circular cross section.
It has been shown that starter devices having damper springs of circular cross section are comparatively insensitive to dirt. However, in the case of a circular cross-sectional area of the spring wire, the section modulus against bending is comparatively small, for instance, in relation to rectangular cross-sectional areas. In order to obtain the same spring constant, a damper spring of circular spring cross section must therefore have a larger outer diameter than a damper spring of rectangular cross section. A starter device having a damper spring of rectangular cross section is known, for instance, from U.S. Pat. No. 7,963,266.